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Longmeadow Recycling Center Pondside Road April through mid-October: Wednesday 10-5, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 10-5
Longmeadow Recycling ----- Helping Ourselves Longmeadow has a long and strong tradition of recycling. Since 1979 Longmeadow residents have been recycling their newspapers and cardboard, and their glass bottles and cans. We were among the first in the state to offer curbside collection of recyclables to our residents on a voluntary basis once a month. Those early efforts earned the Town national recognition in a 1990 special report on record-setting recycling programs from the Institute for Self Reliance. Today Longmeadow's curbside recycling program is mandatory. It requires residents to separate recyclables (paper, cardboard, glass bottles, metal cans and plastic containers) from their trash and place them at curbside for collection. The recycling material is taken to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Springfield where it is sorted, baled and sold to companies around the country for reprocessing and reuse. Longmeadow offers additional recycling opportunities at the Recycling and Yard Waste Center on Pondside Road, next to the Department of Public Works building. Through sponsorship of this recycling program, Longmeadow has made a commitment to the environment. Since 1979 we in Longmeadow have saved a forest of 435,000 trees through our recycling of 25,570 tons of paper and cardboard. These trees are still producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. The recycling of aluminum, glass and plastic items saves energy since it takes less to make a new item from recycled material than from raw material. For example, each glass bottle that you recycle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours. A recycled aluminum can is remelted and back in the stores within six weeks; aluminum ore did not have to be smelted, thereby saving a huge amount of electricity. The 1,600,000 pounds of scrap metal recycled by Longmeadow residents in the last ten years along with the thousands of tons of other recycled items were not buried in a landfill. This has meant fewer landfills to pollute our water supplies. Recycling is an area where environmental stewardship and economic growth go together. New industries employing 12,000 people in Massachusetts alone have been created to collect, process and reuse recycled material. New mills for processing recycled paper, plants for making new glass bottles and scrap metal brokers, are all new businesses that have grown up around the recycling boom. Six times as many jobs are created through recycling than through land filling. Finally, Longmeadow's budget and your taxes have benefited from recycling. Since 1979 we have recycled 35,750 tons of material. Without recycling, that waste would have gone to the incinerator or to area landfills. Since it costs us $58 per ton to dispose of our waste at the incinerator, your recycling efforts have saved the Town over $2,073,000 in disposal costs. Moreover, we are not charged for bringing our recyclable items to the MRF, and, in fact, receive a proportion of the revenue earned from their selling of recycled material. In recent years, that has amounted to $44,500. We also receive an annual grant award from the MRF of $1500 for special projects related to recycling. Additionally, the Commonwealth provides an incentive grant to the Town from proceeds of the Bottle Bill. The amount of this grant is based on the tonnage of material which we recycle and has been about $75,500 over the past 4.5 years. Because of our successful recycling program, we have been able to apply to the state for competitive grants for equipment and educational materials. These have brought about $35,000 worth of recycling equipment into the town. Our recycling efforts have translated into significant dollar savings to the Town. Please review the additional information listed here which describes the who, what, where, when and how of recycling in Longmeadow. The Longmeadow Recycling Commission thanks you for your outstanding recycling efforts. For email access to Longmeadow Recycling Commission, send
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